Ijaw, Itsekiri fault neglect of environment

The people of Warri Federal Constituency in Delta State have decried the absence of environment from the list of 43 key issues voted on in the public session on the review of the 1999 Constitution.

Speaking at the Federal Government College, Warri, venue of the session hosted bythe lawmaker representing the area, Daniel Reyenieju, the people lamented that the environment, one of the key issues affecting the Niger Delta, was not listed.

An environmental activist, Temi Brown Dibofun, said the region is submerged in oil pollution because of unguided oil exploration and activities of international oil companies.

He said: “The ecosystem in Warri and the Niger Delta is becoming a disaster zone.

“If we must continue to survive, we must have an enabling law dedicated entirely to a sustainable environment.

“It is not out of place to demand that a fresh environment should be made a constitutional right for all Nigerians, especially those in this area.”

The Igba of Warri Kingdom, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, also decried the Yes/No format of the template for voting.

She said: ”It is not right for us to come and say yes or no to all issues.

“We may not be lawyers, but we are learned.”

Mrs Lori-Ogbebor said the people should be allowed to make inputs and not tele-guided.

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and Reyenieju calmed frayed nerves with a promise that a stakeholders’ session would be held before the final process of the review.